Tempted by Tempura

Saturday, July 27, 2013

My friend and I wanted to continue our Bon Jovi theme weekend ( wp.me/p1N36Q-et ) by going to his restaurant in Red Bank, NJ for lunch.

JBJ’s Soul Kitchen is a unique restaurant where you “pay what you can” for food. A gorgeous gourmet philanthropic rock star with NJ roots. How can you not love him?

Anyway, there was just one problem – they aren’t open for lunch. At least I was able to take a photo of us outside.

When I saw Soul Kitchen wasn’t open, I fell into panic mode. I was a binge eater with a failed dining plan. We walked around downtown Red Bank, which is a cute town with lots of dining options, but none that really appealed. Our thoughts returned to a conversation we had earlier that day about All-You-Can-Eat sushi. I think my prefrontal cortex tried to raise the red flag that the conversation should not be pursued – but it was no use. Sushi is a rare treat for me because my husband won’t touch the stuff. The last time I had sushi was probably about two years ago, and I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity since I had a willing dining partner.

Sushi in moderation is probably ok, as rice is not necessarily unhealthy ( www.marksdailyapple.com/is-rice-unhealthy/ ). Sashimi is even recommended in the Wheat Belly book. But all I could think about was that I needed to get two years worth of sushi in one sitting. We ordered one of almost everything, including the tempura kitchen dishes and the red bean ice cream for dessert. Our server looked at our order and – with raised eyebrows and slightly broken English – admonished us about not wasting food. “Everything you order, you need to eat. Or else there will be a surcharge.”

That should have probably been a clue to me to scale back my voracious appetite a bit. I didn’t miss a beat though. “I promise you,” I said, looking her right in the eye, “we’re starving. There won’t be a single piece left.”

It was almost true. I think we ate about 60 pieces of sushi. There were only three left over, and I think they were mad about those three…

I was mad about those three, but for different reasons. I definitely ruined my Binge Free / Wheat Free streak. I know better than to go to ANY All-You-Can-Eat restaurant, even if it’s a salad bar. My sushi binge ruined my evening plans to get my 7 mile run in for the week (I could hardly walk). And I was unable to eat anything else for about eighteen hours.

Here’s my verdict on sushi – I need to treat myself to it more than once every two years so that I don’t go crazy over it. I should probably substitute sashimi for sushi for a while – at least until I get some semblance of carb control. And – as if this needs to be said – no more All-You-Can-Eat restaurants.